Originally Posted by
TCASTESTOK
When United and Continental merged, after a while the quality of the product from a customer point of view started to gradually then sharply decline. Not to mention the PR nightmares that UAL had regarding Dao and now a FDX deadhead lawsuit. Im surprised that the attrition rate in the PR department hasnt been sky high. Anyway do you think that UAL should read a take a few pages from the book by the former CEO of Continental
It's a great book of how the CEO got the company from its almost 3rd Ch11 to ranked 1st in the industry. He let employees do whatever they needed to do their jobs, let them rewrite the whole ops manuals, and even gave them incentives ($65/every month of D:0) to get flights out on time. Why cant UAL take the airline back to its CAL days where pax got treated with dignity and got flights they wanted to where they wanted to go.
Originally Posted by
Knotcher
Gordon wasn’t a Saint, nor was the devil. He was management...he did what he was supposed to do, and he did his job well. To his credit I don’t think any other airline CEO valued and empowered his employees like he did. The principles that made CAL successful in the book are true even if you may not like it (seems a lot here don’t). I don’t worship him at all, just calling it like it is.
The working conditions at CAL can be blamed on the SCAB leadership at the time.
Smisek may have been LCAL, but seemed to be more a disciple of Tiltion than Bethune, definitely was asleep during class.
You've asked a fair question, but on this forum you'll likely not get many fair answers. Too many egos and parochial interests.
The United management model is antithetical to the model of CAL and Bethune. It's more akin to the Amtrak because of industry consolidation.
All the Oscar alcolites here should be reminded that he was a CAL board member for almost a decade before the merger, but he is as far from Bethune as you could find. Bethune, a Navy vet was an ops guy that could fly an airplane and unabashed skirt chaser. Oscar, kind of a new age brand manager with an affinity for being all this progressive-ly popular. (and maybe empowering men to wear a skirt).
Based on the trend I'm seeing in our financial and real,operational performance; I think we will be a candidate for a new book , Worst to First and Back Again".